Solid state lighting devices with dielectric insulation and methods of manufacturing

ABSTRACT

Solid state lighting devices and associated methods of manufacturing are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a solid state lighting device includes a first semiconductor material, a second semiconductor material spaced apart from the first semiconductor material, and an active region between the first and second semiconductor materials. The solid state lighting device also includes an indentation extending from the second semiconductor material toward the active region and the first semiconductor material and an insulating material in the indentation of the solid state lighting structure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/853,014, filed Aug. 9, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,287,452.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology is directed generally to solid state lighting (“SSL”) devices with dielectric insulation and associated methods of manufacturing.

BACKGROUND

SSL devices generally use semiconductor light emitting diodes (“LEDs”), organic light emitting diodes (“OLEDs”), laser diodes (“LDs”), and/or polymer light emitting diodes (“PLEDs”) as sources of illumination rather than electrical filaments, a plasma, or a gas. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional diagram of a portion of a conventional indium gallium nitride (“InGaN”) LED 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the LED 10 includes a substrate material 12 (e.g., silicon carbide, sapphire, or silicon), an N-type gallium nitride (“GaN”) material 14, an active region 16 (e.g., GaN/InGaN multiple quantum wells (“MQWs”)), and a P-type GaN material 18 on top of one another in series. The LED 10 can also include a first contact 11 on the P-type GaN material 18 and a second contact 15 on the N-type GaN material 14.

The GaN/InGaN materials 14, 16, and 18 of the LED 10 are generally formed via epitaxial growth. The formed GaN/InGaN materials 14, 16, and 18, however, typically include a high density of lattice dislocations that can negatively impact the optical and/or electrical performance of the LED 10. For example, as described in more detail later, the formed GaN/InGaN materials 14, 16, and 18 can include a plurality of indentations that may form unintended carrier passages bypassing the active region 16 during processing.

One conventional technique for addressing the high density of lattice dislocations is to incorporate aluminum nitride (AlN), silicon nitride (SiN), and/or other suitable interlayers in the LED 10 (e.g., between the substrate 12 and the N-type gallium nitride 14). The incorporation of such interlayers, however, cannot completely eliminate the lattice dislocations in the GaN/InGaN materials 14, 16, and 18 of the LED 10. Also, incorporating interlayers adds cost and time to the manufacturing process of the LED 10. Accordingly, several improvements to at least lessen the impact of the lattice dislocations in LEDs may be desirable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of an LED in accordance with the prior art.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a microelectronic substrate undergoing a process for forming an SSL device in accordance with embodiments of the technology.

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a microelectronic substrate undergoing a process for forming an SSL device in accordance with conventional techniques.

FIGS. 2C-2F are cross-sectional views of a portion of a microelectronic substrate undergoing a process for forming an SSL device in accordance with embodiments of the technology.

FIGS. 3A-3F are cross-sectional views of a portion of a microelectronic substrate undergoing another process for forming an SSL device in accordance with additional embodiments of the technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of SSL devices with dielectric insulation and associated methods of manufacturing are described below. The term “microelectronic substrate” is used throughout to include substrates upon which and/or in which SSL devices, microelectronic devices, micromechanical devices, data storage elements, read/write components, and other features are fabricated. The term “lattice dislocation” generally refers to a crystallographic defect or irregularity within a crystal structure. A lattice dislocation can include a V-defect, an edge dislocation, a threading (or screw) dislocation, and/or a combination thereof. A person skilled in the relevant art will also understand that the technology may have additional embodiments, and that the technology may be practiced without several of the details of the embodiments described below with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2C-3F.

FIGS. 2A and 2C-2F are cross-sectional views of a portion of a microelectronic substrate 100 undergoing a process for forming an SSL device in accordance with embodiments of the technology. The SSL device can be an LED, an OLED, a LD, a PLED, and/or other suitable devices. In the following description, common acts and structures are identified by the same reference numbers. Even though only particular processing operations and associated structures are illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2C-2F, in certain embodiments, the process can also include forming a lens, a mirror material, support structures, conductive interconnects, and/or other suitable mechanical/electrical components (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 2A, an initial operation of the process can include forming an SSL structure 101 and an optional buffer material 103 on a substrate material 102. The substrate material 102 can include a silicon (Si) wafer (e.g., with a Si(1,1,1) crystal orientation), aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), GaN, silicon carbide (SiC), sapphire (Al₂O₃), a combination of the foregoing materials, and/or other suitable substrate materials. In certain embodiments, the optional buffer material 103 can include AlN, GaN, zinc nitride (ZnN), and/or other suitable materials. In other embodiments, the optional buffer material 103 may be omitted, and the SSL structure 101 may be formed directly on the substrate material 102.

The SSL structure 101 can include a first semiconductor material 104, an active region 106, and a second semiconductor material 108 stacked one on the other. In one embodiment, the first and second semiconductor materials 104 and 108 include an N-type GaN material and a P-type GaN material, respectively. In another embodiment, the first and second semiconductor materials 104 and 108 include a P-type GaN material and an N-type GaN material, respectively. In further embodiments, the first and second semiconductor materials 104 and 108 can individually include at least one of gallium arsenide (GaAs), aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs), gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP), gallium (III) phosphide (GaP), zinc selenide (ZnSe), boron nitride (BN), AlGaN, and/or other suitable semiconductor materials.

The active region 106 can include a single quantum well (“SQW”), MQWs, and/or a bulk semiconductor material. As used hereinafter, a “bulk semiconductor material” generally refers to a single grain semiconductor material (e.g., InGaN) with a thickness greater than about 10 nanometers and up to about 500 nanometers. In certain embodiments, the active region 106 can include an InGaN SQW, InGaN/GaN MQWs, and/or an InGaN bulk material. In other embodiments, the active region 116 can include aluminum gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP), aluminum gallium indium nitride (AlGaInN), and/or other suitable materials or configurations.

The SSL structure 101 and the optional buffer material 103 can be formed on the substrate material 102 via MOCVD, molecular beam epitaxy (“MBE”), liquid phase epitaxy (“LPE”), hydride vapor phase epitaxy (“HVPE”), and/or other suitable epitaxial growth techniques. It has been observed, however, that the SSL structure 101 formed via the foregoing techniques typically includes a high density of lattice dislocations. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, the SSL structure 101 can include a plurality of indentations 110 in the SSL structure 101. Three indentations 110 are shown in FIG. 2A for illustration purposes, and the dimensions of the indentations 110 are exaggerated for clarity.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the indentations 110 can include a plurality of sidewalls 111 extending into the SSL structure 101. In the illustrated embodiment, the indentations 110 individually include sidewalls 111 extending from a surface 108 a of the second semiconductor material 108 into the active region 106 and the first semiconductor material 104. In other embodiments, at least some of the indentations 110 can include sidewalls that extend only into the active region 106, or the indentations can extend into the optional buffer material 103 or even into the substrate material 102. In any of the foregoing embodiments, the SSL structure 101 can also include edge dislocations, threading dislocations, and/or other lattice dislocations (not shown).

Without being bound by theory, it is believed that various structural and/or operational conditions may cause the formation of the indentations 110 during processing. For example, it is believed that indentations 110 may form due to different crystal growth rates along different crystal facets of the substrate material 102 (or the optional buffer material 103). It has been observed that epitaxial growth along certain crystal facets (e.g., c-plane) results in lower surface energy than other crystal facets (e.g., m-plane). As a result, epitaxial growth may propagate along certain crystal facets faster than others to form the indentations 110. It is also believed that contaminant particles on the surface of the substrate material 102 and/or other epitaxial growth conditions may also cause the indentations 110 to form.

The indentations 110 can cause low optical efficiencies of the SSL structure 101 when the microelectronic substrate 100 is processed in accordance with conventional techniques. For example, as shown in FIG. 2B, a conductive material 112 (e.g., silver) is formed on the second semiconductor material 108 as an electrical contact in accordance with conventional techniques. The conductive material 112 includes a first portion 112 a on the surface 108 a of the second semiconductor material 108 and a second portion 112 b in contact with the first semiconductor material 104. Thus, the second portion 112 b of the conductive material 112 forms carrier passages 113 electrically connecting the first and second semiconductor materials 104 and 108. As a result, charge carriers (i.e., holes and electrons) from the first and second semiconductor materials 104 and 108 may bypass the active region 106 and combine non-radiatively in the carrier passages 113. Such non-radiative recombination can thus cause low optical efficiencies in the SSL structure 101.

Several embodiments of the process can at least reduce or eliminate the risk of forming bypassing carrier passages 113 by incorporating an insulation material in the SSL structure 101. As shown in FIG. 2C, another operation of the process includes depositing an insulating material 118 on the SSL structure 101. The insulating material 118 can include a first insulating portion 118 a on the surface 108 a of the second semiconductor material 108 and a second insulating portion 118 b in the indentations 110. In the illustrated embodiment, the insulating material 118 generally conforms to the surface 108 a and the sidewalls 111 of the indentations 110. In other embodiments, the insulating material 118 can partially or substantially fill the indentations 110, as described in more detail later with reference to FIG. 2F.

The insulating material 118 can include silicon dioxide (SiO₂), silicon nitride (SiN), hafnium silicate (HfSiO₄), zirconium silicate (ZrSiO₄), hafnium dioxide (HfO₂), zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), and/or other suitable materials with a dielectric constant higher than about 1.0 at 20° C. under 1 kHz. Techniques for forming the insulating material 118 can include chemical vapor deposition (“CVD”), atomic layer deposition (“ALD”), spin-on coating, thermal oxidation, and/or other suitable techniques.

FIG. 2D shows another operation of the process, in which the first insulating portion 118 a (FIG. 2C) of the insulating material 118 is removed from the SSL structure 101 while the second insulating portion 118 b remains in the indentations 110. As a result, the insulating material 118 does not cover the surface 108 a of the second semiconductor material 108. In one embodiment, removal of the first insulating portion 118 a is stopped when the surface 108 a of the second semiconductor material 108 is exposed. In other embodiments, at least a portion of the second semiconductor material 108 may be removed beyond the surface 108 a. Techniques for removing the first insulating portion 118 a of the insulating material 118 include chemical-mechanical polishing (“CMP”), electro-chemical-mechanical polishing (“ECMP”), wet etching, drying etching, laser ablation, and/or other suitable material removal techniques.

FIG. 2E shows a subsequent operation of the process, in which a conductive material 120 is formed on the SSL structure 101 with the insulating material 118. As shown in FIG. 2E, the conductive material 120 includes a first conductive portion 120 a and a second conductive portion 120 b. The first conductive portion 120 a is in contact with the surface 108 a of the second semiconductor material 108 forming an electrical contact for the SSL structure 101. The second conductive portion 120 b is within the indentations 110 and in contact with the second insulating portion 118 b.

In certain embodiments, the conductive material 120 can include indium tin oxide (“ITO”), aluminum zinc oxide (“AZO”), fluorine-doped tin oxide (“FTO”), and/or other suitable transparent conductive oxide (“TCOs”). In other embodiments, the conductive material 120 can include copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), silver (Ag), gold (Au), platinum (Pt), and/or other suitable metals. In further embodiments, the conductive material 120 can include a combination of TCOs and one or more metals. Techniques for forming the conductive material 120 can include MOCVD, MBT, spray pyrolysis, pulsed laser deposition, sputtering, electroplating, and/or other suitable deposition techniques.

The SSL device formed in accordance with several embodiments of the foregoing process can have improved optical efficiencies over conventional devices by eliminating bypassing carrier passages 113 (FIG. 2B). For example, as shown in FIG. 2E, the second insulating portion 118 b electrically insulates the second conductive portion 120 b from the active region 106 and the first semiconductor material 104. The second insulating portion 118 b can thus prevent the second conductive portion 120 b from forming carrier passages that would otherwise bypass the active region 106 by directly connecting the first and second semiconductor materials 104 and 108. As a result, non-radiative recombination of charge carriers (i.e., holes and electrons) in bypassing carrier passages can be at least reduced or generally eliminated in the SSL structure 101.

Even though the insulating material 118 is shown as generally conformal to the SSL structure 101 in FIGS. 2C-2E, in certain embodiments, the insulating material 118 can also have other configurations. For example, as shown in FIG. 2F, the second portion 118 b of the insulating material 118 can substantially or completely fill the indentations 110, the second portion 118 b of the insulating material 118 can even extend beyond the surface 108 a of the second semiconductor material 108. Subsequently, portions of the insulating material 118 that extend beyond the surface 108 a may be removed via CMP, ECMP, and/or other suitable techniques. Thus, the second insulating portion 118 b can be generally coplanar with the surface 108 a of the second semiconductor material 108. In other examples, the insulating material 118 can partially fill the indentations 110 and/or have other suitable configurations. In further examples, the insulating material 118 may be formed before forming the second semiconductor material 108, as described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 3A-3E.

FIGS. 3A-3E are cross-sectional views of a portion of a microelectronic substrate 100 undergoing another process for forming an SSL device in accordance with additional embodiments of the technology. As shown in FIG. 3A, an initial operation of the process can include forming a first semiconductor material 104 and an active region 106 on a substrate material 102 (with an optional buffer material 103) via MOCVD, MBE, LPE, HYPE, and/or other suitable epitaxial growth techniques. The active region 106 has a surface 106 a facing away from the first semiconductor material 104.

As described above with reference to FIG. 2A, it is believed that various structural and/or operational conditions may cause the formation of indentations 210 (three are shown for illustration purposes) during epitaxial growth, as shown in FIG. 3A. In the illustrated embodiment, the indentations 210 have a plurality of sidewalls 211 extending from the surface 106 a of the active region 106 into the first semiconductor material 104. In other embodiments, at least some of the indentations 210 can also have sidewalls extending into the optional buffer material 103 and/or the substrate material 102.

As shown in FIG. 3B, another operation of the process includes depositing the insulating material 118 on the microelectronic substrate 100 such that the first insulating portion 118 a is on the surface 106 a of the active region 106 and the second insulating portion 118 b is in the indentations 210. As shown in FIG. 3C, the process can further include removing the first insulating portion 118 a (FIG. 3B) of the insulating material 118 from the microelectronic substrate 100 in a fashion generally similar to that described above with reference to FIG. 2D. The material removal operation may be stopped when the surface 106 a of the active region 106 is exposed while the second insulating portion 118 b remains in the indentations 210.

As shown in FIG. 3D, a subsequent operation of the process includes forming the second semiconductor material 108 on the microelectronic substrate 100 via MOCVD, MBE, LPE, HVPE, and/or other suitable epitaxial growth techniques. The first semiconductor material 104, the active region 106, and the second semiconductor material 108 form a different embodiment of the SSL structure 101. In one embodiment, the second semiconductor material 108 may grow into the indentations 210 via a combination of lateral and vertical growth. Thus, the second semiconductor material 108 includes a first semiconductor portion 108 a on the surface 106 a of the active region 106 and a second semiconductor portion 108 b in the indentations 210. In other embodiments, the indentations 210 may be filled with a filler material (e.g., AlN, not shown) before the second semiconductor material 108 is formed. In further embodiments, the second semiconductor material 108 may have other suitable configurations. In any of the foregoing embodiments, the second insulating portion 118 b of the insulating material 118 electrically insulates the second semiconductor material 108 from the first semiconductor material 104 and the active region 106.

In the illustrated embodiment, the second semiconductor material 108 has a generally planar surface 108 a facing away from the active region 106. As shown in FIG. 3E, another operation of the process can include forming a conductive material 120 on the generally planar surface 108 a for electrical connection to the second semiconductor material 108. In other embodiments, the second semiconductor material 108 can also have a non-planar surface (not shown) and/or have other suitable structural configurations.

FIG. 3F shows another embodiment of the process in which the second insulating portion 118 b of the insulating material 118 can substantially fill the indentations 210, which can be generally similar to the operation described above with reference to FIG. 2E. In the illustrated embodiment, the insulating material 118 is generally coplanar with the surface 106 a of the active region 106. In other embodiments, the insulating material 118 can be non-planar with the surface 106 a and/or have other suitable configurations.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments of the technology have been described herein for purposes of illustration, but that various modifications may be made without deviating from the disclosure. Many of the elements of one embodiment may be combined with other embodiments in addition to or in lieu of the elements of the other embodiments. Accordingly, the disclosure is not limited except as by the appended claims. 

I claim:
 1. A solid state lighting device, comprising: a solid state lighting structure having: a first semiconductor material; a second semiconductor material spaced apart from the first semiconductor material; an active region between the first and second semiconductor materials and having a topmost surface; an indentation defining sidewalls extending through the active region and at least partially through the first semiconductor material; a conductive material over and in contact with the second semiconductor material; and an insulating material in the indentation of the solid state lighting structure and electrically insulating at least a portion of the first semiconductor material from the second semiconductor material, wherein the second semiconductor material includes a first portion in contact with the topmost surface of the active region and a second portion between the sidewalls of the indentation and separated from the active region.
 2. The solid state lighting device of claim 1 wherein: the topmost surface of the active region faces away from the first semiconductor material and toward the conductive material.
 3. The solid state lighting device of claim 1 wherein: the topmost surface of the active region faces away from the first semiconductor material; and the insulating material is between at least a portion of the first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor material and between the active region and at least a portion of the second semiconductor material.
 4. The solid state lighting device of claim 1 wherein the insulating material includes a continuous upper surface having a portion above or generally coplanar with the topmost surface of the active region.
 5. The solid state lighting device of claim 4 wherein the portion of the continuous upper surface is a first portion, and wherein the insulating material further includes a second portion below the topmost surface of the active region and in contact with the second portion of the second semiconductor material.
 6. The solid state lighting device of claim 1 wherein the conductive material is over substantially all of the second semiconductor material.
 7. The solid state lighting device of claim 1 wherein the topmost surface of the active region corresponds to a first plane, and wherein the first portion of the second semiconductor material is above the first plane and the second portion of the second semiconductor material is below the first plane.
 8. The solid state lighting device of claim 1 wherein the second portion of the second semiconductor material is in contact with the insulating material in the indentation. 